Harry Potter and the Land of the Unseen
by shades of gray
Summary: my most ambitious story yet, sorry if I dont finish it b4 the real fifth year book comes out, it has a pretty cool plot, tho. R & R
1. Chapter One: Beautiful Stranger

Heads turned as a tall girl with almond eyes and short white-blonde hair walked into the  
Grand Hall halfway through the feast. Harry and Ron didn't notice the stranger, due to the fact  
that Harry was working on a large glass of something fizzy that tasted like strawberries, but was  
covered in thick vertical green and white stripes, and Ron was intent on eating his drumstick at  
Olympic speed. Well, they at least didn't notice her until she settled herself down at the  
Gryffindor table, right next to Harry. She was wearing Gryffindor robes, but unlike everyone  
else's sweaters, skirts or pants, and the occasional tie, a beach print tank top and a pair of short  
denim shorts resided underneath. Her elegantly shaped eyebrows were pierced, twice on her  
right and once on her left, and her ears were pierced once on each side as well. Harry, Ron, and  
the majority of the remainder of the table stared as she cooly looked around her at the food, then  
conjured up a leafy salad.   
  
"Wh-what's your name?" Harry found his voice.  
"I'm Noelani. It's Hawaiian. I lived there until this past July, when I moved here, to London with  
my dad. I'm starting my fifth year here. You?" she replied easily.  
"Same. By the way, I'm Harry. This is Ron, and Hermione, and that's Seamus, and Parvati next  
to Lavender. Oh, and that there's Ginny, Ron's little sister. . . " He went on to name all the  
people surrounding him at the table through mouthfuls of potatoes, surprised at how easily  
everything came out, given that he was still in a state of minor shock/ beguilement. "This is my  
fifth year here as well. I didn't know you could start mid-way through at Hogwarts," he finished.  
"Well, I had five years of wizarding education already in Hawaii, actually, four, but I've learned  
enough to be placed in fifth year here. I had to take a test. I passed with flying colors." Noelani  
added this last thought after a mouthful of alfalfa sprouts, but managed to get it out casually,  
without even the suggestion of a gloat. It just sounded like an innocent fact. Harry noted sub-  
consciously that if Hermione had said the same thing (it was something just like her to say), it  
would have sounded more than a little bit like she was bragging (which often she was).  
  
Harry and Noelani continued talking throughout the feast. When Dumbledore finally  
cleared the tables and sent them all to bed, the two walked together to the Gryffindor common  
room, chatting non-stop as had been the same for the previous two hours or so. Just after they  
had given the password to the Fat Lady (omnium-gatherum, this year) and climbed through the  
portrait hole, Noelani came out of the blue with a question.  
"Do you have quidditch at this school? It's one of the few things my dad forgot to clear with  
Dumbledore. I played seeker on one of my school's teams in Hawaii. We won the tournament  
the past three years, the three years since I started playing I'm said to be one of the best seekers  
in Hawaii, of any age." Again, it sounded like only an innocent fact.  
"Yeah." Harry replied bluntly. He didn't know weather to be happy that she shared his love of  
quidditch, or worried that he might lose his spot on the Gryffindor team, as seeker. "I play on the  
Gryffindor team."  
"Really!? I'm going to have to speak to someone tomorrow about trying out," Noelani perked  
up, delighted. "What position do you play?"  
"Seeker," Harry answered dully.  
"Oh.," she responded. "I'm sorry. Well, you must be a very good flyer."  
"I guess."  
  
Harry showed Noelani where her dormitory was, and shortly they had gone their separate  
ways to bed. 


	2. Chapter Two: The First Day

By the end of their first day at Hogwarts, Noelani and Harry had forgotten their  
Quidditch conflict. As it turned out, they were taking the exact same subjects as each other, and  
what with all their interesting a.k.a. boring/ fun a. k. a. torturous classes they had been to, our  
were going to be going to soon, they had plenty to talk about. That morning Gryffindors had  
Divination, followed by Herbology, and Harry wasn't sure whether Noelani would be able to  
handle it. She gave the impression of being very modern, and much more into getting the  
weather report online than from a cup of limp tea leaves. Harry didn't blame her, if that was the  
case; he hated Divination himself. As for Herbology, Noelani had such fair skin and perfect,  
delicate-looking fingers and fingernails. Based on the experience that Harry had had with  
Professor Sprout's various gross and sometimes potentially dangerous plants, it was uncertain  
whether Noelani would want to handle the plants at all.  
  
Harry's predictions proved far removed from the truth, however. While Noelani didn't  
seem very enthusiastic about Divination, as were Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, two other  
Gryffindor fifth year girls, she paid attention, participated, and gave answers Professor  
Trelawany seemed to like. Noelani beamed upon entering the greenhouse where their Herbology  
class took place and seeing the plants at their tables.  
"Magical lettuce, and saphouse tomatoes. Magical substitutions for muggle salad ingredients,  
grow ten to twelve times faster," Professor Sprout had announced. "However, before eating the  
saphouse tomatoes, we must remove the sap-like substance from under the skin. It's very helpful  
in shrinking large noses and ears to a more normal size, but if eaten, will shrink internal organs  
that do not tolerate shrinking as well." Despite having to remove the disgusting, sticky goo from  
beneath the skin of the tomatoes, Noelani seemed to have an excellent attitude toward the  
lesson.  
"I love plants like these, I grow my own magical lettuce in my garden at home as well as many  
other magical varieties used in salads," she gushed happily while stripping her tomato of it's  
outer layer of skin. "I've never seen these saphouse tomatoes, though. I'll have to plant some in  
my garden during summer holiday. I had to start over when we moved here, this will be a great  
addition. The rapid growth is definitely worth the small bit of work removing the sap. Plus, my  
dad could use this sap for his nose."  
  
The afternoon continued in the same fashion. Even though it was double potions (!),  
Noelani still remained positive minded about everything. Instead of moaning about the  
gloominess of the dungeon or the unfairness of everything Snape did, she busied herself with her  
potion, remarking on how potions were so amazing; the ingredients alone might be ordinary,  
useless objects, yet when mixed together, they could perform magic to rival that of even old,  
powerful spells. Harry began to find himself staring at her, transfixed. Snape noticed once while  
he was supposed to be adding his lizard weed to his deep purple concoction, and didn't waste a  
minute of the remaining five or so left in the class commenting on this in wildly extensive detail.  
This didn't stop Harry from wanting to hang out with her every spare moment though, as soon as  
the class had ended. In fact, he was so interested in everything he had to say that he didn't notice  
Ron and Hermione standing close together at the other end of the common room before dinner,  
watching him with particularly sour expressions on their faces. 


	3. Chapter Three: Breakfast Announcment

Two weeks into the year at breakfast on a particularly warm Monday , Professor  
Mogonagall stood up.  
"Ahhmm," she cleared her throat, just loudly enough to silence the noisy hall, which was a feat  
in itself, given that three-quarters of the Gryffindor table was screaming because of the  
magically enlarging mice the Weasley twins had just set loose. The rats, of course, disappeared  
with a *pop* after about fifteen to twenty seconds, but nevertheless the sight of a score of rats  
continuously growing till they were about two feet high was plenty enough to petrify more than a  
few Gryffindors.   
"Weasley!" she shouted after realizing the cause of all the petrified shrieks. Pulling out her wand  
she quickly deleted every rat from the hall.  
"Sorry professor," George shouted across the hall jovially. She returned the apology with a  
reproving look, then continued on to what she was originally intending to say.   
"Your attention please," she called to the entire hall. "I'm sure you are all eagerly awaiting the  
start of the quidditch season, as are a large part of the teaching staff. You will not have to wait  
much longer, I am pleased to say, as all those who wish to play for their house teams should  
assemble at the pitch tomorrow at three for tryouts with Madam Hooch. The first game of the  
season will be this Saturday. Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor."   
  
Cheers erupted in the Great Hall. Many people at Hogwarts shared Harry's first love, in  
fact, just about the entire wizarding world loved quidditch. Harry's heart leaped when he heard  
Magonagall's words, and soared for a wonderful three seconds before falling as fast as it had  
risen, down, down till it landed with a thunk at the bottom of Harry's stomach. He had  
completely forgotten about quidditch. It wasn't hard, being with Noelani all the time. Over the  
past two weeks their friendship had flourished into something wonderful. Harry was always with  
Noelani, from the minute he stepped out of the boy's dorm in the morning until the moment he  
stepped into it at night. And even when he was lying in his bed trying to get to sleep at night (or  
back to sleep in the morning) he couldn't tear his thoughts away from her. Maybe that was why  
he hadn't had any time to think of quidditch, though now that he thought about it, Harry thought  
that was probably for the better. What would happen? Would she be better than him at seeker?  
Would he lose his spot on the Gryffindor team? Or would he win out, and keep his position?  
Would it ruin their relationship-Harry coughed-friendship? Harry's worrying jolted to a sudden  
stop, and he rewinded back to his last question, the one he had tripped over mid-thought.  
  
Relationship. That was a strange word. It cold be the same as friendship Harry supposed,  
or it could be a family thing. . . or it could b so much more. Were he and Noelani. . . could they  
be, er, or maybe become. . . Hmmm. Thoughts flooded Harry's mind, and he sat at the  
Gryffindor table in a daze for a while after the cheers had been brought to an end by Magonagall.  
He finally snapped out of it, however, and continued to eat his scrambled eggs.  
  
When breakfast was over, Harry reluctantly made his way out of the Great Hall. He had  
divination first (ugh) and needed to get his books. As he rounded the corner out the doorway,  
someone brushed past his shoulder. Looking up, Harry was startled to recognize Noelani. He  
hadn't looked her way since Prof. Mogonagall had made her announcement concerning the  
quidditch season. He gulped, and managed a small smile.  
"Good luck tomorrow at tryouts," she said nonchalantly. "How many years have you played for  
Gryffindor?"  
"F-four," Harry stammered nervously. Afraid he looked nervous to go up against her, he repeated  
himself, this time more boldly and confidently. "Four."  
"Oh. Well, Harry, can we try not to let this ruin our relationship?" She asked with a broad smile.  
Harry just stared back dumbly into her perfect face. What? Had she just said the word he thought  
she had said? The "r" word? Harry felt like he might faint. "Well. . ." Noelani looked curiously  
at Harry's lack of any expression. "I'll take that as a yes. See you at divination."  
  
Harry didn't know what to think. Noelani was all of a sudden looking extremely pretty. 


	4. Chapter Four: That Didn't Just Happen . ...

This story is going a bit slowly, I'm trying to do a million things at once including try out for  
soccer teams and fit in a vacation before school, and I've sort of gone a while since  
updating. Anyway, here's:  
Chapter Four!  
  
Harry ran through the halls trying desperately to make it to the front door without Filch or Mrs.  
Norris catching him sprinting like that. Or any of the teachers, for that matter. He turned the  
corner, clutching his Firebolt tightly, and saw the staircase ahead leading down into the entrance  
hall. He took the stairs three at a time, landing at the bottom and running for the large pair of  
doors at the opposite end of the room that lead out onto the grounds. He had his hand on the  
handle and was just about to pull the door open when he heard a stern voice snap behind him:  
"What do you think you're doing, acting like that inside the castle?" Hermione's shrill, yet  
business-like voice sounded from behind Harry. When it came to breaking rules, the only  
difference between Hermione and a teacher was that she couldn't expel you.  
"Come on, Hermione!" Harry groaned. "I'm late! Quidditch tryouts started five minutes ago!"  
Hermione gave him a look as if to say 'quidditch tryouts are no excuse for sprinting through the  
halls,' and said with a little huff,  
"Honestly. You're getting to act more and more like Oliver Wood did everyday. There are more  
important things than quidditch!"  
"Maybe. But right now, I can't think of any, and the longer I stand here arguing with you the  
later I'm going to be." Harry's voice grew higher with exasperation.  
"Fine, but don't blame me next time you're running with your Firebolt and you accidentally put  
a dent in someone's head with it," Hermione replied, annoyed. However, Harry didn't here a  
word of what she said past 'fine,' because he had taken off through the doors and was now  
running as fast as he could across the grounds to the Quidditch pitch.  
  
When Harry reached the base of one of the towering stands surrounding the pitch, he  
slowed to a trot. Looking around the field, he saw no sign of the tryouts whatsoever, until he  
lifted his gaze. Zooming around the field above him were fourteen players on broomsticks.  
Harry recognized some of his fellow Gryffindor teammates, but four out of the seven trying out  
for Gryffindor were new faces. One chaser was a light-haired boy that Harry thought he might  
have seen once or twice in the Gryffindor common room, the keeper was another person Harry  
thought he vaguely recognized, and the person playing seeker was a short-haired blonde that  
Harry didn't know, either. Harry watched for a little bit, forgetting that he needed to get up there  
in the excitement of the scrimmage that was going on against a team of those trying out for  
Slytherin. Suddenly Harry's sharp eye noticed a glint of gold just ten feet in front of him, near  
the ground. As if just Harry's noticing the snitch set off an alarm, the two seekers were on it in a  
flash. The hurtled down towards the ground, but the seeker trying out for Gryffindor soon left  
her opponent in the dust. At a astonishingly fast pace she dove, until it looked as if she would  
pierce the ground with her broom. Everyone on the field watched in horror, certain that she  
would crash, and probably end up dead, but just when everyone knew she was going to hit, she  
stopped, and pulled out of the dive so fast that every onlookers eyes followed the spot where she  
would have been, right ono the green where she would have crashed before realizing she wasn't  
there anymore. Harry's eyes popped out of his head as she calmly dismounted her broom and  
held on her hand. Uncurling her fingers until they lay flat, she revealed the golden snitch, which  
sat, waving it's wings as if basking in the sun, in her open palm. Not believing what he had just  
seen, Harry blinked hard, twice, then three times. Opening his eyes, he searched the broom for a  
name. When he found it, his eyes popped out of his head yet again. A Nimbus 1000! She had  
flown better than Harry on his Firebolt! But Harry's disbelief turned to utter and complete  
wordless shock, and his eyeballs popped farther out of his head than he ever thought possible  
when the girl turned towards him and smiled.   
"Wonderful! Amazing! That was a dive to rival those of Victor Krum's! I need see no more,  
Gryffindor has a seeker! Congratulations, Noelani," came the voice of Madam Hooch.   
Harry just stood there. 


End file.
